Method for generating display control information and computer

ABSTRACT

The present invention dynamically generate documents or display control information so as to provide client terminals of various capability with user interface in compliance with each terminal&#39;s capability. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a method for generating display control information (HTML document, for instance) so as to display in a form adapted to a terminal used by a user, comprises the steps of: receiving a display request from the terminal; in response to the display request, generating a group of data objects concerning the contents of the display, wherein the data objects is independent of the terminal; by using the group of data objects and information about attributes of the terminal, generating a group of view objects for generating the display control information; and by referring to the information about the attributes of the terminal, generating the display control information by the group of view objects.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/343,992, filed Jun. 30, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,619.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and mechanism for generatingcontrol instructions to display documents, etc. in a form adapted to aterminal used by a user and a mechanism, more particularly to a methodand mechanism for outputting HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)documents, etc. in a form adapted to various attributes such as thesizes of display screens and/or communication speeds, of variousterminals used by a user, such as PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), apersonal computer (PC), TV set or a cellular phone having an informationdisplay function.

Moreover, the present invention relates to a facility, in conjunctionwith the facility for dynamically generating a page, for controlling indetail authentication and reexecution considering a history mechanism ofa terminal.

The present invention relates particularly to a facility wherein, in atransaction such as updating a database or displaying a page for whichstrict user authentication is necessary, a process such as suppressionof reexecution or reauthentication can readily be specified and operatesfrom an application even if a page is dynamically generated.

2. Prior Art

As Web-based technology becomes popular, so-called thin client types ofsystems which use a Web browser for user interface and execute anapplication program at a Web server (application server) areincreasingly used. In such cases, information sent from a server to aclient is an HTML document including a form, and only if the Web browseroperates at the client's terminal, an application can be run withoutbeing distributed or installed to each client beforehand. Also, ingeneral, the client side can be operated by using hardware of lowerthroughput compared to a case where an application runs on the clientside.

Conventionally, a low-end PC has been used for such a client terminal.Recently, however, Web browsers have come to operate on hardware of evenlower throughput and low cost, such as PDAs, handheld PCs, set-top boxesand car navigation systems, etc, and new terminal equipment such as acellular phone with a Web browser feature has been developed. Therefore,significant low usability has arisen, for instance, that a Web page welldisplayed on a PC with a large display area requires frequent scrollingoperations on a PDA with a small display area.

There is a method to cope with this problem, described in JapanesePublished Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 10-133973, namely toprovide, in advance, multiple HTML documents and other accompanyingresources corresponding to all possible types of client terminals andreturn appropriate ones for each request from a client by determiningthe type of its terminal. In this case, however, there is a demerit thatmassive data needs to be created and the work load of system developmentbecomes enormous. The work load for a new type of client terminal isalso huge.

There is also another method proposed, which is namely, to provide onlystandard HTML documents for PCs and modify their contents according tocapability of the client terminal. It is, for instance, in case of aterminal with a small display area, to create reduced images and send tothe client an HTML document which is modified so as to refer to thereduced images. The aforementioned Japanese Published Unexamined PatentApplication No. Hei 10-133973 also mentioned that an HTML document istransformed so as to adapt it for multiple terminals. However, nomention is made as to a concrete method of such transformation.

In addition, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei10-21165 discloses a communication system which transfers hyper-textsobtained from a server after editing them to fit their data size anddata layout into physical environment and user life scenes of the clientreceiving them. This physical environment includes the type ofcommunication lines, the performance of terminals such as being aworkstation or a cellular phone, number of colors and sizes ofdisplayable images, etc. The user life scenes include the data such as auser is on the way to the office, traveling on business, sitting on thedesk, taking holidays, etc. This application discloses that physicalenvironment and user life scenes are used for selecting transferredinformation, but it does not disclose anything particular as to screenconfiguration.

In addition, T. W. Bickmore et al, “Digestor: Device-Independent AccessTo The World Wide Web”, (http://www.fxpal.xerox.com/papers/bic97)described a method that, when a proxy receives a request for an HTMLdocument, it creates a new HTML document by fetching the document from aspecified HTTP (Hyper Text Transport Protocol) server, parsing the HTMLdocument into an AST (Abstract Syntax Tree) and performing predeterminedtransforming operations on the AST. In Digestor, an HTTP server mustfirst creates an HTML document which is accordingly required whencreating an AST. Also, as a transformed AST itself is converted into anHTML document, the AST itself does not perform control when creating anHTML document.

Or it is possible, as to reexecution of a page, to add identificationinformation or a state of a session to a URL or HTTP header information(so-called Cookies) (for instance, see a Servlet function (SUN, JavaServlet API Specification Ver. 2.1), Session Tracking of IBM WebSphere,etc.). However, they only identify and restore a state and do notinclude control on reexecution of a page which is an object of thepresent invention.

With regard to control on reexecution of a page in transactionprocessing of a database, a technique of numbering URLs so as to inhibitreexecution of a page once displayed is widely known (for instance, itis introduced as “once-only” URL in 13.13 History Lists of RFC2068 HTTP1.1 Specification).

However, if an authentication state or control on reexecution is to bedynamically changed by processing of an application or diversity of aterminal, programming becomes complicated (it may happen that flexibleprocessing is impossible only with basic functions, and all oforiginally reexecutable portions cannot be reexecuted).

In addition, since pages are not organized, specification of a page insuch a processing program becomes so complicated that necessity fortotal modification arises in the case of addition or deletion of a page,and thus productivity/maintainability and reliability of software arelowered. In case of a system which automatically divides a page by aterminal, it is difficult to control it in such a method.

An object of the present invention is to dynamically generate documentsor display control information for providing client terminals of variouscapabilities with user interfaces in accordance with each clientterminal's capabilities.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism formaking applications running on a server independent of any clientterminal which uses the results of their processing.

In addition, it is also an object of the present invention to separateprocessing of applications running on a server and creation of adocument showing the results of the processing so that only the part forthe document creation needs to be changed even when various new clientterminals emerge.

A still further object of the present invention is to furnish, for anoperation and a request onto a past page by using a history mechanism ofa terminal, a mechanism for controlling its reexecution and/orreauthentication and a mechanism for readily controlling it anapplication program.

Moreover, a still further object is to keep this mechanism forcontrolling operable according to a terminal or even when a page isdynamically generated by an application.

In addition, a still further object is, from an application program, toeliminate any effect of dynamic generation of a page or an applicationso that it may become possible to readily specify the control.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a method for generating display controlinformation (HTML document, for instance) so as to display in a formadapted to a terminal used by a user. The method comprises the steps of:receiving a display request from the terminal; in response to thedisplay request, generating a group of data objects concerning thecontents of the display, wherein the group of the data objects isindependent of the terminal; by using the group of data objects andinformation about an attribute of the terminal, generating a group ofview objects for generating the display control information; and byreferring to the information about the attribute of the terminal,generating the display control information by the group of view objects.Thus, as a group of data objects are generated independently of anyterminal, even if a new terminal comes to output a display request, partwhich generates the group of data object does not need to be changed. Inaddition, the group of data objects themselves does not need to bechanged as long as the request content is the same. Meanwhile, theterminals are equipments such as ordinary PCs, PDAs, TV sets andcellular phones on which a browser is available.

Moreover, it is also possible to comprise the steps of: receivingterminal (type) identification information from the terminal; andobtaining the information about the attributes of the terminal from theterminal identification information. To obtain the information about theattributes of the terminal, there are various methods such as storing inadvance pairs of terminal type identification information andinformation about the attributes of the terminal, and enteringinformation about the attributes of the terminal at its first access,etc.

The aforementioned step of generating a group of view objects may alsocomprise the steps of: generating a root object of the group of viewobjects; and having child objects generated by the root object. The rootobject may also have a method for generating child objects by referringto information about the attributes of the terminal. These child objectsgenerate grandchild objects as required.

It is possible that the data objects retain instruction information usedfor generating corresponding view objects and generating the displaycontrol information by the view objects. The instruction informationincludes priorities of objects, information of whether or not splittingis possible, and information of whether or not outlining is possible,etc. In addition, information about the attributes of the terminalincludes the screen size of the terminal, communication speed, aspectratio, and number of colors. Moreover, although display controlinformation in the embodiments is in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML),it may be in any other markup language.

The aforementioned step of generating display control information mayalso comprise a step of sequentially generating display controlinformation of responsible parts starting from a root object of thegroup of view objects by referring to the information about theattributes of the terminal. The root object generates display controlinformation for an entire page, and the child objects generate displaycontrol information for the page content. As view objects refer toinformation about the attributes of the terminal, different displaycontrol information maybe generated even if these view objects are thesame.

In the present invention, if a display request from the same terminal isrelated to a former display request, following steps may be furtherexecuted: in response to a display request from the terminal,determining whether or not it is necessary to generate a new group ofdata objects according to the request; and if it is not necessary togenerate a new group of data objects, generating the display controlinformation corresponding to the display request by related view objectsin the group of view objects. If the data objects do not need to bechanged, the view objects newly can generate display control informationwhich responds to the new request. However, in some cases necessary viewobjects may have to be created while it is not required to newly createa group of data objects.

As described above, since data objects and view objects are generated asrequired, what exist in a server before generating them are a modulefor, in response to the display request from a terminal, generating agroup of data objects concerning the contents of the display, whereinthe group of the data objects is independent of the terminal; a modulefor, by using the group of data objects and information about theattributes of the terminal, generating a root view object for generatingthe display control information; and a module for ordering the root viewobject to generate its child view object; and a module for ordering theroot view object to generate the display control information.

The server may further include a module for deriving the informationabout the attributes of the terminal from terminal (type) identificationinformation received from the terminal.

It is also possible that the above-mentioned child view objects have amethod for generating its child objects and the root view object ordersits child view objects to generate the display control information. Inaddition, it is also possible that view objects including a root viewobject and child view objects have a method for generating the displaycontrol information by referring to information about the attributes ofthe terminal.

If the present invention explained above is implemented in a program,the program may be stored in storage media such as CD-ROM and FD (floppydisk).

To control reexecution, reauthentication and the like of a page in ahistory, page definitions are grouped when an application is developed.This group may further comprise another subgroup so that the entire pagedefinitions form a tree structure. These page definitions may beincluded in the instruction information used for generating the displaycontrol information. Grouping is performed to page definitions in thisinstruction information. Thus, it is possible, just by designating anarbitrary group name, to readily and flexibly specify a set of pages asmentioned later whose reexecution is inhibited or whose authenticationstate is changed.

At an execution time, in addition to the step of generating the displaycontrol information, the steps of: determining whether reexecution of apage in a history has been performed; if the page is reexecuted and acache of the processing state exists, restoring the processing state;processing an application and storing in a cache a processing state atthat time; and according to a result of processing an application, andclearing a processing state corresponding to a page specified by thegroup of page definitions may be integrated.

Moreover, in addition to the steps of generating the display controlinformation and controlling reexecution of a page in a history, thesteps of: checking whether a page in a history requires authenticationand what is its authentication state; ensuring authentication whenauthentication is necessary; and according to a result of processing anapplication, modifying an authentication state of a page in a historymay be integrated. However, modifying of an authentication state may beeasily designated by an application developer by specifying a group ofpage definitions just as in controlling reexecution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, byway of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the entire system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of functions within HTTP server 100.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of functions of controller explained in FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of HTTP server 100.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of processing overview.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing of step 1070 shown inFIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a processing of step 1072 shown inFIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a processing of step 1075 shown inFIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of processing overview.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of processing overview.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of processing overview.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of contents of information aboutattributes of the terminal.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram used for generating data objects.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of application definitiondocuments.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of specifying reexecutioncontrol to the application definition language of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is an example of a restaurant of FIG. 15, particularly showing apage definition tree in the portion of a reservation processing process.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of definition documentscontaining a database designation.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a group of data objects.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of attributes defined byapplication objects.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the processing for generating viewobjects for a large screen.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the processing for generating viewobjects for a large screen.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining the processing for generating viewobjects for a large screen.

FIG. 23 is a diagram representing a group of view objects for a largescreen.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining the processing for the group of viewobjects in FIG. 23 to output an HTML document.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining the processing for the group of viewobjects in FIG. 23 to output an HTML document.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the processing for the group of viewobjects in FIG. 23 to output an HTML document.

FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining the processing for generating viewobjects for a small screen.

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining the processing for generating viewobjects for a small screen.

FIG. 29 is a diagram representing a group of view objects for a smallscreen.

FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining the processing for the group of viewobjects in FIG. 23 to output an HTML document.

FIG. 31 is a diagram explaining operation of the present invention intime sequence by taking reservation processing of a restaurant as anexample in order to describe a facility for controlling reexecution of apage in conjunction with processing.

FIG. 32 is a diagram explaining how reexecution is inhibited by using anexample of reservation processing of a restaurant.

FIG. 33 is a diagram of an example of reservation processing of arestaurant so far, explaining that a reexecution control facilityoperates without any problem even if a screen structure (due to aterminal attribute) dynamically changes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

First, the entire system related to the present invention is explainedby using FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows Web server 100 related to the presentinvention, ordinary PC 120, TV set 130, portable computer 140 andcellular phone with a built-in Web Browser 150, all connected vianetwork 110. PC 120, TV set 130 and portable computer 140 have a WebBrowser and obtain information from HTTP server 100. Client terminalsmay be other equipments which have a Web Browser. Since cellular phone150 is connected with network 110 via wireless, it is connected withnetwork 110 by a broken line in FIG. 1. Thus, the computers connectedwith network 110 are respectively different in terms of their displayscreen size, communication speed, throughput and operability.Accordingly, documents to appear on respective displays are preferablythose which are adapted to capabilities of respective terminals. Themethods for adapting a displayed document to a terminal may include oneto cope with it on the terminal side. As regards the present invention,however, HTTP server 100 is composed as in the following explanation.

A functional block diagram of this HTTP server 100 is shown in FIG. 2.

Also, a detailed block diagram of sub-functions of controller 210 in afunctional block of HTTP server 100 is shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, HTTP server 100 comprises controller 210, DB 240,data service facility 220, HTML generator 230 and terminal DB 250. Itmay not comprise DB 240.

Controller 210 receives various parameters from client terminals 120 to150 and returns adequate HTML documents corresponding to them. For this,it controls operation of data service facility 220 and HTML generator230. In Web applications, a series of requests from the same clientterminal are often a unit for processing. Accordingly, it is required toidentify requests from the same client from multiple requests and, evenwhen generation of HTML documents is complete, to continue operation asan application by not releasing the resources and keeping their state toprepare for a next access.

Here, a series of accesses by a client terminal is called a session.Accordingly, controller 210 administers a session and determines whethera request belongs to an existing session or whether a new session shouldbe initiated. It may also access to terminal DB 250 to obtaininformation about attributes of the terminal from identificationinformation obtainable from client terminals 120 to 150, and output theinformation about attributes of the terminal to HTML generator 230. Dataservice facility 220 and HTML generator 230 may also respectively accessto terminal DB 250.

As shown in FIG. 3, controller 210 comprises, so as to controlreexecution and authentication, etc. of a page, detailed functions ofsession identification facility 211, page manager 212, page managementDB 213, application processing device 214 and page reexecutioncontroller 215.

Session identification facility 211 analyses a parameter sent from aterminal and identifies which session is making a request from aterminal so as to identify data unique to a session. Likewise, itanalyses a parameter to determine whether a page in a history of abrowser is reexecuted and/or whether the page requires authentication sothat page manager 212 identifies a necessary page and fetches necessaryinformation from page management DB 213 to restore a past processingstate required for authentication and/or reexecution. If processing ofpage manager 212 ends or if such processing is not required, processingswitches to application processing device 214.

Application processing device 214 executes a process unique to a Webapplication. For instance, in the case of a banking application, actualbanking business is performed. On the basis of this processing result,page reexecution controller 215 updates page management DB 213. Namely,if a process inhibits reexecution of a past page, it removes from pagemanagement DB 213 a state cache required for reexecution of a process.

As data service facility 220 has to perform processing requests such asrequests for retrieval from client terminals 120 to 150, etc., itincludes a part for accessing to DB 240 as required to generate a groupof data objects and the group of data objects themselves which access toDB 240 to represent their contents and process a session. This group ofdata objects are generated for each session and configured in thisembodiment as a tree structure whose root is an object representing theentire processing in accordance with a Web page's document structure.Objects corresponding to leaves are ones corresponding to data such ascharacter strings and images. However, it is not limited to a treestructure.

HTML generator 230 includes a part for generating a group of viewobjects by using information from a group of data objects and terminalDB 250 and the group of view objects themselves. If a root view objectreceives an order to generate an HTML document from controller 210, thegroup of view objects sequentially output an HTML document starting fromthe root view object. The information obtained from terminal DB 250 isalso used at this HTML document output. The structure of a group of viewobjects generated from a group of data objects changes based on theinformation obtained from terminal DB 250, and the HTML documents outputby a group of view objects also change. Namely, even if the same groupof data objects are generated, the structure of the group of viewobjects may change, and even if the group of view objects are the same,the HTML documents to be output may be different. If an entire HTMLdocument is generated, it is transferred from controller 210 to clientterminals 120 to 150 which request it. The part for generating a groupof view objects and the group of view objects themselves may also referto the other parameters mentioned later on.

In current HTTP server 100, an HTML document is dynamically generated byusing a mechanism called CGI (Common Gateway Interface) or a servlet(See Sun Microsystems Inc., Java, JDK 1.2,“http://jserv.javasoft.com/products/java-server/servlets/”). Thefollowing describes an example of implementing it by using servlets.This is because it is easy to continuously hold data as required for aWeb application and the following requirements of the present inventionare satisfied. However, it may also be implemented by a CGI. In thatcase, a background process is used so as to perform interprocesscommunication with a process activated by a CGI. It is also possible toimplement the components required for the present invention in a form ofa Web proxy server.

Now, the entire processing by HTTP server 100 is explained by using FIG.4. First, a display request is received from client terminals 120 to 150(step 1005). This display request uses, for instance, a User-Agent fieldwhich is contained in a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and an HTTPheader. For instance, a URL is “http://aServer/servlet/RestaurantDemo”,and a User-Agent field of an HTTP header is “deviceID.” A User-Agentfield is used to obtain information about attributes of the terminal tobe used later from terminal DB 250. Then, it is determined from a URLwhether it is a new session (step 1010). If it is a new session, itmoves on to step 1020 since the URL does not contain session=sessionnumber. On the other hand, if it is not a new session, as the URLcontains session=session number, the number is used.

In case of a new session, data access facility 220 first generates agroup of data objects related to the requested display content (step1020). The process of generating data objects is described later.

Next, a root view object is generated by HTML generator 230 (step 1030).This view object has a method for creating child view objects (or amethod for requesting child view object generator to create child viewobjects) and a method for generating an HTML document. A pair of theroot view object and the session number is registered in a table. Thistable is used in step 1010. Then, view objects subsequent to the rootview object are sequentially generated by using the generated group ofdata objects and information about attributes of the terminal. Thisprocess is explained later with an example. When the necessary group ofview objects are generated, the root view object is ordered to generatean HTML document by controller 210 (step 1050). A root view object whichhas received this order generates an HTML document of its responsibilityand then requests its child view objects to generate a part of the HTMLdocument thereafter. Then, the child view object and those subsequent toit generates a part of the HTML document of their responsibility (step1060). Controller 210 transfers the generated HTML document to theclient terminal (step 1065).

FIG. 5 shows the processing so far in a schematic way. First, controller210 receives HTTP's User-Agent Field and a URL. Then, data servicefacility 220 generates a group of data objects from the information ofthe URL received from controller 210. On the other hand, the User-AgentField is used to obtain information about attributes of the terminal.Then, controller 210 orders HTML generator 230 to generate a root viewobject, and HTML generator 230 generates a root view object whilereferring to a root object of the group of data objects and informationabout attributes of the terminal. As to object other than the root viewobject, a parent view object generates child view objects whilereferring to the group of data objects and information about attributesof the terminal. If the generated root view object is ordered togenerate an HTML document by controller 210, an HTML document as shownin FIG. 5 is generated by each view object subsequent to the root viewobject, the document is output to a client terminal.

If it is not a new session, since a session number exists in a URL,received parameters are output to a root view object corresponding tothe session number (step 1070). Then, it is determined from parametersother than the URL's session number whether or not necessary viewobjects have been generated (step 1080). This may be determined eitherby the root view object itself or by any view object subsequent to theroot view object at the receipt time of parameters. If necessary viewobjects have been generated, it moves on to step 1060 (or step 1050).Namely, each view object outputs a part of an HTML document for which itis responsible by using information about attributes of the terminal,and transfers a generated HTML document to a client terminal.

Step 1070 is further explained by referring to FIG. 6.

Step 1070 is further divided into sub-steps for page control such aspage authentication and reexecution control of a past page. First, aparameter sent from a terminal is analyzed to determine whether pagecontrol is required (step 1071), and if required, page managementcontrol is performed (step 1072). For instance, if a page in a historyof a browser is reexecuted by a user, as a page identification facilityembedded in a URL or an HTTP header of a request can show that a pastpage is reexecuted, a processing state when the page was displayed isrestored from the page management DB by using the identifier as a key.Likewise, authentication of a page which requires authentication canalso be performed by embedding an authentication token in a URL or anHTTP header of such a page.

Step 1072 is further explained by referring to FIG. 7.

As page management control of step 1072, specifically, preparations aremade for authentication of a page or reexecution of a past page. Theabove drawing represents these sub-steps. First, a parameter sent from aterminal is analyzed to determine whether a page in a history of abrowser has been used (step 107201). Here, if a new page which does notexist in a history is used, it is not covered by this sub-flowchart, soit is left as is to move on to a next process. If it is a past page in ahistory, page management DB 213 is referred to so as to examine whetherthere is a cache of a past processing state (step 107202). If there isno cache, as it means that reexecution is inhibited, it jumps to anapplicable error handling (step 107206). If there is a cache, it isutilized to restore a processing state (step 107203). Next, a treestructure is used to determine whether the page requires authentication(step 107204). This determination is performed by using the treestructure to examine whether the page belongs to a page group whichrequires authentication. If authentication is not necessary, it is leftas is to move on to a next process in the sub-flowchart. Ifauthentication is necessary, it is checked whether authentication of thepage is invalidated on an authentication token included in a parametersent from a terminal or page management DB 213 so as to determinewhether the authentication is valid (step 107205). If the authenticationis valid, it is left as is to move on to a next process. If it isinvalid, it jumps to an error handling in step 107206.

FIG. 6 is referred to again.

Next, an original process of an application is executed (1073). Forinstance, in the case of a banking application, designated bankingbusiness is performed. At this time, a state after executing theapplication is cached in the page management DB in preparation forreexecution of a page in a history of a browser. Moreover, on the basisof this processing result, it is determined whether page control hasbeen changed (1074), and the page management DB is updated if necessary(1075). For instance, if the database is committed, it is necessary toinhibit reexecution of an update process page of the database. Namely,an applicable cache in a processing state of the page management DB iscleared. As another example, if a processing result is authenticated (orauthentication till then was discarded), an applicable portion of thepage management DB is updated.

Step 1075 is further explained by referring to FIG. 8.

As an update of the page management DB in step 1075, to be concrete,invalidation of page authentication or inhibition of reexecution of apast page are performed. The above drawing represents these sub-steps.First, a result of executing an application as a step before step 1075(step 1073) is examined so as to determine based on the execution resultwhether to inhibit reexecution of a certain page group (step 107501). Ifit is necessary to inhibit reexecution, the page group is calculatedbased on a page group name designated in an application program and atree structure of page definitions (step 107502). Next, a cache storingof a processing state corresponding to a page belonging to theapplicable page group is removed from page management DB 213 (step107503). If it is not necessary to inhibit reexecution, steps 107502 and107503 are skipped. Likewise, from a result of processing anapplication, it is determined whether authentication should beinvalidated (step 107504). If it is necessary to invalidateauthentication, the page group whose authentication should beinvalidated is calculated likewise based on a tree structure of pagedefinitions (step 107505). In step 107506, authentication of pagesbelonging to the applicable page group is invalidated. If it is notnecessary to invalidate authentication, steps 107505 and 107506 areskipped.

FIG. 4 is referred to again.

On the other hand, if it is determined that necessary view objects havenot been generated, it is determined whether or not new data objects arerequired (step 1090). If new data is required, since the data may not beavailable from the data objects generated before then, data servicefacility 220 is requested when necessary to generate data objects(moving on to step 1020). If the same session requires new data objects,since it means generating a subtree to the original data object, aprocess of registering a session number in step 1030 is not executed.Hereafter, view objects corresponding to the newly generated dataobjects are generated, and the view objects generate an HTML document.

If new data objects are not required in step 1090, a view objectgenerates necessary child view objects by referring to a group of dataobjects and information about attributes of the terminal, and moves onto step 1060 (or step 1050) (step 1100). Namely, each view objectoutputs a part of an HTML document for which it is responsible by usinginformation about attributes of the terminal, and transfers a generatedHTML document to a client terminal.

Now, the processing after step 1070 is partly outlined by using theexample of FIG. 5. FIG. 9 shows a case where a user selected ABC fromthe HTML document of FIG. 5. The deviceID shown in HTTP's User-Agentfield is used as in FIG. 5. On the other hand, the URL becomes“http://aServer/servlet/RestaurantDemo?session=1&ABC=selected” forinstance, which is recognized as the same session as FIG. 5 because ofthe part of session=1. In addition, it is understood from the part ofABC=selected that ABC of FIG. 5 was selected, while it is determinedthat new data objects are required by the view objects. Accordingly,data service facility 220 newly generates a group of data objects. Then,a group of view objects is generated by using information aboutattributes of the terminal. In this example, when generating an HTMLdocument, only the ones surrounded by a broken line in the group of viewobjects output an HTML document by referring to information aboutattributes of the terminal. Then, the generated HTML document isdisplayed at the bottom. In this case, a NEXT button (or a hyperlink) isgenerated.

FIG. 10 shows a case where a user instructed NEXT in FIG. 9. HTTP'sUser-Agent field is handled in the same way. The URL is“http://aServer/servlet/RestaurantDemo?session=1&next=pressed” forinstance, which is recognized as the same session as FIG. 5 because ofthe part of session=1. In addition, it is understood from the part ofnext=pressed that the NEXT button of FIG. 9 was pressed. It isdetermined, however, that existing view objects is enough. In this case,no change is made to data objects and view objects, and the part shownby a broken line in the group of view objects output an HTML document.This HTML document contains a PREV button (or a hyperlink) and a NEXTbutton (or a hyperlink).

Examples of a NEXT button (or a PREV button for returning to a previouspage) is as follows.

TABLE 1 <a href=“/servlet/Restaurant?session=1&next=pressed”> Next </a>

Inside the anchor tags, not only a mere character string but also animage of a button may be specified. As an attribute value of anchortags, a URL with a parameter is described. If a user clicks thishyperlink, the URL is transferred from the terminal, the parameter ispassed to a controller of the present invention, and the next=pressedparameter is passed to a group of view objects specified by using thesession parameter. Detecting from the next=pressed that the NEXT buttonwas pressed, the HTML generating program of the view objects outputs anHTML document on the next page.

FIG. 11 shows a case where a user further instructed NEXT in FIG. 10.HTTP's User-Agent field is handled in the same way. The URL is“http://aServer/servlet/RestaurantDemo?session 1&next=pressed” forinstance, which is recognized as the same session as FIG. 5 because ofthe part of session=1. In addition, it is understood from the part ofnext=pressed and the internal state of the view objects that the NEXTbutton of FIG. 10 was pressed. It is determined here that the group ofview objects require new view objects. In such a case, necessary viewobjects are generated by referring to the previously generated group ofdata objects and information about attributes of the terminal. Here, thepart shown by a broken line other than a root view object is newlygenerated. Then, the group of view objects in the part shown by a brokenline generates an HTML document while referring to information aboutattributes of the terminal.

Information about attributes of the terminal which was not described indetail in the above is explained here. In the examples of FIGS. 5 to 11,information about attributes of the terminal is obtained from deviceIDcontained in HTTP's User-Agent field, corresponding information of whichis included in terminal DB 250. For instance, a corresponding tablewherein such information about attributes of the terminal can beobtained from deviceID is provided. Information about attributes of theterminal may include what FIG. 12 shows. For instance, ScreenSize(screen size), ScreenRatio (aspect ratio), ScreenQuality (screenfineness), ColorDepth (number of colors), ModemSpeed (communicationspeed), Image (whether images are usable), Table (whether tables areusable), Frame (whether frames are usable), ScrollBar (whether scrollingis possible), PointingDevice (whether pointing devices are usable), etc.The right columns of FIG. 12 show examples of respective values.Meanwhile, it is not necessary that all the items are specified for allthe deviceIDs. Also, the values of each line may take other values.

Furthermore, it is also possible to perform a further phase ofprocessing. Namely, a rule base for terminal attributes is provided soas to generate more general terminal attributes from the values ofterminal characteristics as in FIG. 12 which are used for converting adisplay structure and generating display instructions. It is alsopossible, for instance, to classify a single parameter by deciding itsrange instead of a concrete numeric value, such as a slow communicationspeed in case of ModemSpeed smaller than 14.4K, a fast communicationspeed in case of ModemSpeed larger than 56K, a medium speed in othercases, etc., and to generate terminal attributes from multipleparameters, such as images displayed slowly, sequential representationdue to no pointing device and a slow communication speed, etc.

In addition, while only a start of a session was explained above, asession ends by a user's explicit instruction of an end if there is theinstruction, and if there is no explicit instruction for the end, aftera predetermined time has passed from a previous access. If a sessionends, the resources used by a group of data objects and a group of viewobjects are released.

Here is a brief explanation of how to generate a data object. A Webapplication's content creator creates application definition document300 (FIG. 13). Application definition document 300 is described in akind of definition language. This language may be defined as a uniquemarkup language, for instance, by using XML (W3C, “Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML) 1.0”, http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-xml-19980210). Asregards an example of restaurant services, a description as in FIG. 14is possible for instance.

In this case, the restaurant information services to be defined herecomprises the two processes (corresponding to pages on display) ofretrieval of restaurants and display of restaurant information, theprocess of display of restaurant information further comprising adisplay item of restaurant information and a link for returning to theretrieval page. Likewise, it is described that the item of restaurantinformation comprises display items at a level thereunder. In FIG. 14,partial omission is performed. In creating such a definition document, acontent creator may either describe it directly by using a text editoror use an authoring tool such as a word processor having a layoutfunction.

An example of specifying reexecution control for the applicationdefinition language of FIG. 14 is further explained by using FIG. 15.

To the application definition language of FIG. 14, a process forhandling restaurant reservations is added as illustrated in FIG. 15. Inthis handling of reservations, there are roughly display items fordisplaying a reservation state and for entering an application forreservation and accepting a reservation. As to these display items, itis described that they, as an attribute, belong to a page group called“reprocessing inhibited after reservation acceptance” (a keyword forpageGrp=). In addition, it is specified as an attribute of a decisionbutton for executing handling of reservations that, if a reservation isaccepted, the display items belonging to this page group are notreprocessed (a keyword for invGrp=).

Therefore, on a screen where display control information generatedaccording to this description is processed by a browser, after a userpresses a decision button, reprocessing (acceptance of display and areservation change) of these display items and any display item of alower level is inhibited by a facility of the present invention. After areservation is accepted, if a user attempts with a back button of abrowser to return to a display item (page) of “reservation state display” and recall it, it is not displayed so as to prevent a double -booking.

As reexecution control of a page also copes with a dynamically generatedscreen, a page group is defined by using a page definition tree. Theabove FIG. 16 is an example of a restaurant in FIG. 15 especiallyshowing a page definition tree of the process for handling reservations.A process for handling reservations has the three display items, namely,reservation state display, reservation acceptance screen and reservationacceptance result screen. Moreover, reservation state display has twotypes of sub-display items, namely, reserved time and its vacancyinformation. The same holds true with reservation acceptance screen.

These display items are dynamically displayed as a page according todisplay capability of a terminal, and it is not predetermined whichlevel is to be a page. For instance, in the case of a large-size screensuch as a PC, reservation state display or reservation acceptance screenshould be a unit as a page, while, in the case of a PDA, etc, with asmaller screen, the individual sub-display items, namely, reserved timeand vacancy information may make one page.

Here, in the application definition language of FIG. 15, a page groupcalled “reprocessing inhibited after reservation acceptance” is merelyspecified in the definitions of the two display items, namely,reservation state display, and reservation acceptance screen, while achild of a page definition tree also belongs to the page group. Namely,the page group called “reprocessing inhibited after reservationacceptance” has display items in a broken line (namely, a page) in theabove drawing as its members.

FIG. 13 is referred to again.

Definition language analyzer 310 analyzes documents written in such alanguage. An example of such an analyzer is IBM XML for Java(http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/formula/xml). An analyzer transfers itsanalysis results to a data object generator. Analysis results are datarepresented in a tree structure of objects which looks as if a tagstructure was made into one object (a tag object in a nest is a child),as mentioned in W3C, “Document Object Model Specification”(http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-DOM-1998-0416).

A data object generator generates data objects based on a tree structurewhich is the result of analysis. Generally, an object is generated bydetermining a class of a data object from an object of analysis result.The structure is also the same.

Instead of writing all information on an application definitiondocument, such information content may be retrieved from an existingdatabase. In this case, there are descriptions in the definitiondocument about a specified method for retrieving from the database andreferences to retrieval results, and based on such designations, thedata object generator makes inquiries to the database via communicationwith a database system called a database connector. As results ofdatabase retrieval are returned through the database connector, the dataobject generator generates data objects which reflect results from thedatabase based on referential designations of the retrieval results. Thestructure at this time is determined by the tags of a definitiondocument which designate the database. As an example of such adefinition document which contains designations of a database (FIG. 17),a case of FIG. 14 is taken up where the Restaurant Information isdynamically retrieved from a database.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a group of data objects generated byperforming such processing. The “Restaurant's Details page” required tobe output here comprises two objects of “Restaurant Information” and“Link to Search Page” for returning to the retrieval screen. Moreover,while the Restaurant Information has various information of restaurantsdesired by a user, it is divided into three categories of “Attribute”,“Guide” and “Menu” here. Under each category, objects corresponding tonecessary information are generated.

In the present invention, the attributes shown in FIG. 19 are defined asto a data object. Those are defined as follows: if child objects exist,the child objects as a group; numeric priority of data in numbers;whether or not data of the object is to be always displayed even if itis divided, by a switch (a logical value); whether or not the data ofthe object may be displayed in a divided way, by a switch; in case of animage, whether or not it can be outlined, by a switch; and any dataunique to the application, by any form if necessary. This is theinstruction information used in generation of a corresponding viewobject and generation of the display control information by a viewobject.

The following are two typical examples of what view objects aregenerated and what the HTML document is generated when these dataobjects are generated.

(1) Conversion Into Display Configuration for a Large Screen of a PC,etc. and HTML Document Output

In the aforementioned example, deviceID is fetched from HTTP'sUser-Agent field received from a client terminal to obtain correspondinginformation about attributes of the terminal. The following is explainedon the assumption that this information about attributes of the terminalis already obtained. In this example, the information includesinformation of “Large Screen” (to be more specific, a client terminalcomprises a display whose resolution may be classified as a largescreen).

First, a view object corresponding to an object which is to be a root ofa tree structure of data objects is generated (FIG. 20). HTML generator230 which performs this generation determines a class of the view object(a view object class for displaying a page for a large screen) and aninitial parameter for generating objects by using a class of a root dataobject (“Page Class” in the example), unique knowledge to an applicationfield (for instance, “a restaurant is displayed on a page”) andinformation about attributes of the terminal (“Large Screen” in thiscase) as parameters and actually generates the root view object.

Thus, once a root view object corresponding to a root data object isdetermined, it is possible to have view objects generate their childrenone after another starting from the root view object. Namely, a viewobject has a method for generating a child object or a method forrequesting a common method for generating a child view object togenerate a child view object.

Then, if the view object for displaying a page for a large screen isrequested to generate a child view object, it makes inquiries to the“Data Object for Restaurant Details Display Page” to generate its ownchild view object from the child data object. In this generation, anobject is generated generally based on a view object class and aninitial parameter. The view object class is determined from its ownclass (in this case, “View Class for Displaying a Page for a LargeScreen”), a data object class, unique knowledge to an application field(if already defined) and information about attributes of the terminal.

For instance, as shown in FIG. 21, in case of “Restaurant Information”which is a child of the data object for “Restaurant Details DisplayPage,” the “Displaying Two-Dimensional Placement of Items” class isdetermined as a view object class, from “General Items” which is a classof “Restaurant Information” and “Large Screen” information which isinformation about attributes of the terminal. The view object fordisplay of two-dimensional placement of items is a type of a view objectwhich is intended to place output objects two-dimensionally by makinguse of a large terminal screen so as to enhance display effects.Likewise, in case of “Link to Search Page” which is another child objectof the “Restaurant Details Display Page” data object, it generates aview object called a “Link Object” from the class (“Hyperlink”).

If child view objects are generated, a parent view object requests everychild to generate a child view object in the same way it was requestedbefore. Namely, as FIG. 22 shows, it generates the “Attribute ListDisplay” view object by making use of the facts that it is a view objectfor display of two-dimensionally placement of items, “AttributeInformation Category” which is a child data object of “RestaurantInformation” displays a list of attributes, etc. Likewise, the“Attribute Selection Display” view object is generated for the “GuideInformation Category” data object. The “Attribute Selection Display”behaves so as to select one most suitable display item from a user'srequest or information about attributes of the terminal. For the “Menu”data object, a view object for display of two-dimensionally placement ofitems is generated again by making use of “Large Screen” of informationabout attributes of the terminal in the same way as RestaurantInformation. In addition, as to Restaurant Information, a view object isadded as a child object which displays a restaurant name as a title bymaking use of information unique to the field that a restaurant name isimportant as a title.

These four child view objects, namely “Restaurant Name Display,”“Attribute List Display,” “Attribute Selection Display” and“Two-dimensional Placement of Menu Items” are requested to generatechild view objects likewise. For instance, if the “Attribute ListDisplay” view object is requested to generate one, it generates a pairof view objects which are a variable name and a value (view object fordisplaying a pair of an attribute name and a value) by scanning childdata objects of the corresponding “Attribute Information Category.” Asregards the “Attribute Selection Display” view object, it selects themost suitable one from the children of the “Guide Information Category”data object (here, a PC without map function is mentioned and an imageguide map is selected based on priority of data objects) and generates aview object corresponding to it. The same recursive process is alsoperformed for a menu. The structure of the finally generated group ofview objects is as shown in FIG. 23.

If FIG. 18 showing a structure of a group of data objects and FIG. 23showing a structure of a group of view objects are compared here, thereare three differences: first, Restaurant Name view object is added;second, only one child view object of the Attribute Selection Displayview object since the Attribute Selection Display view object isgenerated against the “Guide Information Category” data object, whilefour child data objects exist under the “Guide Information Category”data object; and third, Menu Name view object is added because of itsimportance. As shown above, the data objects do not directly correspondto the view object in their structures.

Once all the view objects are generated, each view object is requestedto generate an HTML document. Namely, a root view object is instructedto generate an HTML document, and the Large Screen Page Display viewobject generates instructions to control an HTML page in the finaloutput, while it requests the “Two-dimensional Placement of Items” viewobject and the “Hyperlink” object which are children as regards the pagecontent. The requested child view objects go on to generate the entireHTML document by further requesting their own child view objectslikewise.

FIG. 24 shows an outline of HTML generation by a group of view objectsin FIG. 23. The view object for Display of Two-dimensional Placement ofItems, which is a child of the Large Screen Display view object,generates an HTML document so as to be finally two-dimensionally placed.As explained below, HTML output may be changed by further referring toinformation about attributes of the terminal in this phase of generatingan HTML document. In FIG. 24, child view objects of the view object forDisplay of Two-dimensional Placement of Items outputs an HTML documentso as to be two-dimensionally placed as illustrated. While a child viewobject of the Attribute List Display view object and child view objectsof the view object for Display of Two-dimensional Placement of Items arenot shown in the figure, they are outputting an HTML document so as tobe displayed in an area secured by each parent view object.

On the other hand, as regards the Image Display view object which is achild view object of the Attribute Selection Display view object, itoutputs an image unchanged if there is information about attributes ofthe terminal which may be interpreted to mean that image display speedis fast enough (see FIG. 25). While a terminal attribute that imagedisplay speed is fast enough is determined by communication speed anddrawing performance. But, the above process may be performed justbecause communication speed is fast.

On the other hand, if there is information about attributes of theterminal which may be interpreted as meaning that image display speed isslow, the Image Display view object does not output an image but outputsa link to the image (see FIG. 26). If a user designates this image, itwill transfer this image.

It is also possible, as regards a method for two-dimensional placement,to adjust it for each client terminal by considering the screen size,aspect ratio, etc. Thus, the HTML document may be generated by adaptingit to information about attributes of the terminal such as “the terminalscreen is large” or “image display speed us slow.”

(2) Conversion into Display Configuration for a Small Screen such asPDA, and HTML Document Output

As the amount of information to be displayed at a time is limited on asmall screen such as one for PDA, configuration of view objects andtheir tree structure must be made suitable for it. Information aboutattributes of the terminal includes data to be interpreted as a smallscreen.

Data objects are as in FIG. 18. First, as in case of a large screen,HTML generator 230 generates the view object for Displaying Divided Pagefor Small Screen by using the class of a root data object andinformation about attributes of the terminal (“the screen is small” inthis case) (see FIG. 27). As a root view object was generated, childview objects are generated just as in case of a large screen.

In this case, however, as the amount of information which can bedisplayed on a screen is limited, and information is divided and notpresented at a time, not a view object which performs two-dimensionalplacement but a view object which shows information in order of itsimportance is generated. When this view object further generates childobjects, it generates them so that they do not make a category structuresuitable for two-dimensional placement but a row structure in whichimportance of the display content is taken into consideration.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 28, the Linear Display view objects aregenerated for which priority corresponding to the Restaurant Informationdata objects is taken into consideration. A link object is generated asin case of FIG. 21.

When the Linear Display view object for which priority is taken intoconsideration generates a child view object, it makes a tree structuretotally different from when a client terminal has a large screen, byemphasizing what should be promptly shown to a user and a row structurefor easy page dividing (see FIG. 29). In this example, view objectsother than those actually displayed at the time are also generated, butit is possible to have them generated when designated by a user. In FIG.29, they are in a form wherein necessary child view objects areconnected in parallel with the Linear Display view objects for which thepriority is taken into consideration. In the Figure, the nearer it is tothe Linear Display view objects, the higher the priority is. It is alsopossible to determine this priority reflecting a user's taste by somemeans.

After view objects are generated, an HTML document is sequentiallygenerated starting from the root view object as in the case of a largescreen. Buttons for navigation between pages (the NEXT and PREV buttons)are also automatically generated so that a user can easily navigatedivided pages. At this time, output more adapted to a terminal's abilitymay be generated by using information about attributes of the terminal.

In case of FIG. 30, an HTML document maybe generated so as to display onone page information of three view objects in order of priority from theinformation of “Screen size: 320% 240 dots” included in the informationabout attributes of the terminal. In addition, if there is informationabout a terminal attribute indicating “Screen size: 240% 180 dots,”since the screen is still smaller, an HTML document may be generated soas to output information of two view objects on one page.

In the above Figures, the screen after an HTML document was interpretedby a Web browser is represented as output of a group of view objects.However, a group of view objects output control tags of HTML.

While the above examples were explained in terms of HTML, the presentinvention is not limited to it. For instance, if output document of WML(Wireless Markup Language, Wireless Application Protocol Forum Ltd,“Wireless Application Protocol Wireless Markup Language Specification,”Version Apr. 30, 1998), XML, etc. is required, the view objectsincluding a method for outputting them should be generated and also astructure of a group of view objects suitable for the characteristics ofWML and XML should be generated.

The above FIG. 31 is a diagram showing operation of the presentinvention in time sequence by taking reservation processing of arestaurant as an example in order to describe a facility for controllingreexecution of a page in conjunction with processing. It simultaneouslyshows a display screen of a terminal, operation by a user (contents of arequest to a server) and contents of a processing state cache in pagemanagement DB 213. First, a user issues a request for a display of areservation state of a restaurant. This brings controller 210 of thepresent invention into operation, and it is determined as a new page bypage manager 212 therein. Next, application processing device 214 isexecuted. Here, a reservation state is examined by an applicationprogram. Simultaneously, a processing state at the time is stored in astate cache in preparation for reexecution. Since control on reexecutionis not required in this process, screen generation as a next process isperformed. As a result, display control information for displaying areservation processing state is sent to a terminal and displayed.Reservation acceptance screen is processed likewise, and the state isstored into a state cache.

Next, it is assumed that a user attempts to have reservation statescreen redisplayed by using a history mechanism on a terminal. Forinstance, an old reservation state screen is invoked by a back buttonnormally provided for a browser, and a reload button also normallyprovided is pressed. In this case, it is determined by page manager 212that it is a process for an old screen. In this case, since it is a pagein a history, it is checked whether a state is stored in a state cache.In this case, since it should be stored in a state cache as mentionedabove, the processing state is restored so as to process an application(reservation state check). To be exact, this result is also stored in astate cache, but it is omitted in the diagram for simplification.Lastly, display control information is generated and sent to a terminal.

An example of reservation processing of a restaurant in whichreexecution is inhibited is further explained by using theabove-mentioned FIG. 32. It is assumed that a user enters necessarymatters on reservation acceptance screen and presses reservationdecision button. This brings controller 210 of the present inventioninto operation, and it is determined as a new page by page manager 212therein. Next, application processing device 214 is executed. Here, areservation acceptance process is executed by an application program.Simultaneously, a processing state at the time is stored in a statecache in preparation for reexecution. Since reexecution control relatedto reservations is specified by reservation acceptance in this process,a page on which reexecution is inhibited are identified on the basis of“reexecution inhibited after reservation acceptance” designated byinvGrp in the application definition language. As to this example, thepages of “reservation state display ” and “reservation acceptancescreen” on which pageGrp, a display item attribute of the applicationdescription language is specified fall under it. Next, a state cachecorresponding to these pages is nullified, and reservation acceptanceresult screen is generated.

Next, it is assumed that, just as previously, a user attempts to havereservation state screen redisplayed by using a history mechanism on aterminal. For instance, an old reservation state screen is invoked by aback button normally provided for a browser, and a reload button alsonormally provided is pressed. In this case, it is determined by pagemanager 212 that it is a process for an old screen. In this case, sinceit is a page in a history, it is checked whether a state is stored in astate cache. Unlike the previous case, since a state cache is nullifiedas mentioned above, it turns out that reexecution is inhibited. As aresult, display control information for posting an error is generatedand sent to a terminal, and error screen is displayed.

Moreover, it is explained by using the above FIG. 33 that, in theexamples of reservation processing of a restaurant described so far, areexecution control facility operates without any problem even if ascreen structure (due to a terminal attribute) dynamically changes. Inthe examples described so far, reservation state display was displayedon one screen since the terminal had a large screen. This time, it isassumed to be a terminal with a small screen, and HTML generator 230divides a page by child object items of reservation state display,namely “reserved time” and “vacancy information.” Accordingly, a statecache is also cached by each of these child items. Here, it is assumed,as previously, that a user enters necessary matters on reservationacceptance screen and presses reservation decision button.

This brings controller 210 of the present invention into operation, andit is determined as a new page by page manager 212 therein. Next,application processing device 214 is executed. Here, a reservationacceptance process is executed by an application program.Simultaneously, a processing state at the time is stored in a statecache in preparation for reexecution. Since reexecution control relatedto reservations is specified by reservation acceptance, a page on whichreexecution is inhibited are identified on the basis of “reexecutioninhibited after reservation acceptance” designated by invGrp in theapplication definition language. As to this example, the pages of“reservation state display ” and “reservation acceptance screen” onwhich pageGrp, a display item attribute of the application descriptionlanguage is specified fall under it. However, a page of reservationstate display does not directly exist in a cache, so according to a pagedefinition tree, a state cache corresponding to “reserved time” and“vacancy information” which are children of reservation state display isnullified through the use of their being the page falling under it.

Next, it is assumed that, just as previously, a user attempts to have apage of reserved time and vacancy information as one of reservationstate screens redisplayed by using a history mechanism on a terminal.For instance, an old reservation state screen is invoked by a backbutton normally provided for a browser, and a reload button alsonormally provided is pressed. In this case, it is determined by pagemanager 212 that it is a process for an old screen. In this case, sinceit is a page in a history, it is checked whether a state is stored in astate cache. Like the previous case, since a state cache is nullified asmentioned above, it turns out that reexecution is inhibited. As aresult, display control information for posting an error is generatedand sent to a terminal, and error screen is displayed.

Since a page to be displayed is not directly specified but as a unit ofa page group, proper reexecution control could successfully beimplemented as requested by an application even when an actuallydisplayed page is divided.

Accordingly, the present invention allows documents or display controlinformation to be dynamically generated so as to provide clientterminals of various capability with user interface. In addition, amechanism could successfully be provided, which keeps an applicationexecuted at a server independent on the client terminal which usesprocessing results of the application. Furthermore, processing of anapplication executed at a server could successfully be separated fromgenerating a display document representing the processing results sothat only the parts of generating the displayed document should bechanged even if various client terminals newly appear.

In addition, for reexecution of a page in a history by using a screenredisplay function of a browser of a terminal, flexible reexecution andauthentication control according to an application processing couldsuccessfully be implemented by the present invention by easyspecification from an application program. It could also be successfullyindicated that this specification readily describes an applicationprocessing as a page group and is also effective when dynamicallycomposing a page.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withrespect to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

1. A method for generating display control information, on a centralserver, so as to display documents, on a plurality of remote terminals,in forms adapted to the terminals, each of the terminals having adefined set of display specifications, the method comprising the stepsof: maintaining at the central server a database having attributes ofeach of the terminals; receiving at the central server a display requestfrom one of the terminals for a first display; in response to receivingsaid display request, the central server determining whether saidrequest belongs to an existing session or a new session; generating onthe central server a group of data objects representing contents of afirst document to be shown on said one of the terminals, said dataobjects being independent of the set of display specifications of saidone of the terminals, and using said group of data objects andinformation from said database about an attribute of the one terminal,to generate on the central server a first group of view objects forgenerating said display control information, said first group of viewobjects including a root view object and one or more child view objects,and wherein using the data objects to generate the first group of viewobjects includes using the root view object to generate said one or morechild view objects; the central server referring to said informationabout said attribute of the one terminal, to generate said displaycontrol information by said first group of view objects; the root viewobject including a method for creating the child view objects and amethod for generating the first document; the root view object and thechildren view objects each generating a part of the first document usinginformation about attributes of said one of the terminals, wherein thefirst group of view objects generate different documents for differentones of the terminals; receiving at the central server another displayrequest from said one of the terminals for a second document to bedisplayed on said one of the terminals; in response to receiving saidanother display request from said one of the terminals, the centralserver determining whether or not to generate a new group of dataobjects; and if it is determined not to generate said new group of dataobjects, the central server using one or more of said group of dataobjects representing contents of the first document and informationreceived in said another request about said one of the terminals, togenerate a second group of view objects, different from said first groupof view objects, to generate control information to show the seconddocument on said one of the terminals.
 2. The method according to claim1, thither comprising the steps of: receiving terminal identificationinformation from said one terminal; and obtaining said information aboutsaid attribute of the terminal from said one terminal identificationinformation.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said dataobjects retain instruction information used for generating correspondingview objects and generating said display control information by the viewobjects.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said informationabout the attribute of the one terminal includes information about ascreen size of said one terminal.
 5. The method according to claim 1,wherein said display control information is in Hyper Text MarkupLanguage (HTML).
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said stepof generating display control information comprises a step ofsequentially generating display control information of responsible partsfrom a root object of said group of view objects by referring to saidinformation about the attribute of the terminal.
 7. The method accordingto claim 1 for controlling reexecution and/or reauthentication of a pagein a history, said method comprising the steps of: forming a group ofpage definitions; incorporating the group of page definitions intoinstruction information used for generating said display controlinformation; determining whether reexecution of a page in a history hasbeen performed; if a page is reexecuted and a cache of a processingstate exists, restoring the processing state; processing an applicationand storing in a cache a processing state of the computer application atthat time; and according to a result of processing the application,specifying said group of page definitions and clearing a processingstate corresponding to an applicable page.
 8. The method according toclaim 7, further comprising the steps of: checking whether a page in ahistory requires authentication and its authentication state; ensuringauthentication when authentication is necessary; and according to aresult of processing an application, modifying an authentication stateof a page in a history.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein:said root object generates display control information for an entirepage in the given display; and said one or more child objects generatedisplay control information for contents of said page.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 9, comprising the further steps of: obtaininginformation about said attributes of said one of the terminals, andentering said information into the database, when said one of theterminals first accesses the central server; receiving at the centralserver a further display request from another one of the terminals foranother specified display; in response to receiving said further displayrequest, the central server determining whether or not it is necessaryto generate a new group of data objects; and if it is not necessary togenerate said new group of data objects, the central server using one ormore of said group of data objects representing contents of the givendisplay, to generate a further group of view objects to generate controlinformation to show the further specified display on said another one ofthe terminals.
 11. A computer for generating display control informationso as to display documents on a plurality of remote terminals, in formsadapted to the terminals of each, the terminals having a defined set ofdisplay specifications, the computer comprising modules for: maintaininga database having attributes of the terminals; in response to receivinga display request from one of the terminals for a first display,determining whether said request belongs to an existing session or a newsession; generating on the computer a group of data objects representingcontents of a first document to be shown on said one of the terminals,said data objects being independent of the set of display specificationsof said one of the terminals, and using said group of data objects andinformation from the database about an attribute of said one of theterminals, to generate on the computer a group of view objects forgenerating said display control information, said group of view objectsincluding a root view object and one or more child view objects, andwherein using the data objects to generate the view objects includesusing the root view object to generate said one or more child objects;the root view object including a method for creating the child viewobjects and a method for generating the first document; ordering saidroot view object to generate the one or more child view objects;ordering said root view object to generate said display controlinformation; the root view object and the children view objects eachgenerating a part of the first document using information aboutattributes of said one of the terminals, wherein the first group of viewobjects generate different documents for different ones of theterminals; receiving at the central server another display request fromsaid one of the terminals for a second document to be displayed on saidone of the terminals; in response to receiving said another displayrequest from said one of the terminals, the central server determiningwhether or not to generate a new group of data objects; and if it isdetermined not to generate said new group of data objects, the centralserver using one or more of said group of data objects representingcontents of the first document and information received in said anotherrequest about said one of the terminals, to generate a second group ofview objects, different from said first group of view objects, togenerate control information to show the second document on said one ofthe terminals.
 12. The computer according to claim 11, furthercomprising a module for deriving said information about the attribute ofthe terminal from terminal identification information received from saidterminal.
 13. The computer according to claim 11, wherein said childview object can generate its child object.
 14. The computer according toclaim 11, wherein said root view object can order said child view objectto generate said display control information.
 15. The computer accordingto claim 11, wherein the group of view objects including said root viewobject and said child view object generate said display controlinformation by referring to said information about the attribute of theterminal.
 16. The computer according to claim 11 for controllingreexecution and/or reauthentication of a page in a history, saidcomputer comprising the modules for: forming a group of pagedefinitions; incorporating the group of page definitions intoinstruction information used for generating said display controlinformation; determining whether reexecution of a page in a history hasbeen performed; if a page is reexecuted and a cache of a processingstate exists of the page, restoring the processing state; processing acomputer application and storing in a cache a processing state of thecomputer application at that time; and according to a result ofprocessing an application, specifying said group of page definitions andclearing a processing state corresponding to an applicable page.
 17. Thecomputer according to claim 16, further comprising the modules for:checking whether a page in a history requires authentication and itsauthentication state; ensuring authentication when authentication isnecessary; and according to a result of processing an application,modifying an authentication state of a page in a history.
 18. A storagemedium storing a program for having a computer generate display controlinformation so as to display documents on a plurality of remoteterminals, in forms adapted the terminals, each of the terminals havinga defined set of display specifications, said program having saidcomputer execute the steps of: maintaining on the computer a databasehaving attributes of the terminals; in response to receiving a displayrequest from one of the terminals for a first display, determiningwhether said request belongs to an existing session or a new session;generating in the central server a group of data objects representingcontents of a first document to be shown on said one of the terminals,said data objects being independent of the set of display specificationsof said one of the terminals, and using said group of data objects andinformation from the database about an attribute of said one of theterminals, to generate on the computer a group of view objects forgenerating said display control information, said group of view objectsincluding a root view object and one or more child view objects, andwherein using the data objects to generate the view objects includesusing the root view object to generate said one or more child objects;the root view object including a method for creating the child viewobjects and a method for generating the first document; ordering saidroot view object to generate said display control information; the rootview objects and the children view objects each generating a part of thefirst document using information about attributes of said one of theterminals, wherein the first group of view objects generate differentdocuments for different ones of the terminals; receiving at the centralserver another display request from said one of the terminals for asecond document to be displayed on said one of the terminals; inresponse to receiving said another display request from said one of theterminals, the central server determining whether or not to generate anew group of data objects; and if it is determined not to generate saidnew group of data objects, the central server using one or more of saidgroup of data objects representing contents of the first document andinformation received in said another request about said one of theterminals, to generate a second group of view objects, different fromsaid first group of view objects, to generate control information toshow the second document on said one of the terminals.
 19. The storagemedium according to claim 18 storing a program for having a computercontrol reexecution and/or reauthentication of a page in a history, saidprogram having said computer execute the steps of: forming a group ofpage definitions; incorporating the group of page definitions intoinstruction information used for generating said display controlinformation; determining whether reexecution of a page in a history hasbeen performed; if a page is reexecuted and a cache of a processingstate of the page exists, restoring the processing state; processing acomputer application and storing in a cache a processing state of thecomputer application at that time; and according to a result ofprocessing the application, specifying said group of page definitionsand clearing a processing state corresponding to an applicable page.